Typical Stony AU
by the-last-living-art
Summary: Steve is an artist who works with popstar!Tony to advertise his latest tour. they meet, Steve thinks that Tony's an ass, there's a lot of oblivious shit, then they fall in love. along the way Schmidt, Howard and a few others make them fight. ...it's basically a compilation of all the overused tropes in this fandom. *ps. it's my first long fic; so don't judge*


CHAPTER I

As Steve makes his way back to his apartment after a long grueling day full of pitches, the only thought on his mind is spreading out on his couch, eating ice-cream while watching mindless TV.

The 5 floor walk-up tires him out further. He opens the door, shrugs off his heavy bag right on the threshold and sits down against the door. He can hear the low sound of the television from the living room. Of course, the one day that Steve needs a break, Bucky decides to show up.

Sighing, Steve gets up and walks over to the living room. Bucky's eyes flick over to him for a moment when he enters, and then settle on the television again.

A lifetime of friendship never goes to waste, Steve already knows what's his best friend is going to say, when he opens his mouth, "You oughta talk t' Fury. That stress you got there ain't gonna go away if you continue in-"

As soon as Bucky's tirade began, Steve swiveled out of the living room. He cut across Bucky's long and winded lecture before it picked up steam with a quick and exasperated, "Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to him."

Bucky replied sharply, "Sure you will."

Steve picked out some leftover Chinese takeout from the fridge and waited for it to heat in the microwave as he wallowed in self-pity. He had been a part of Fury's media company, Blue Jackets since his university days itself. He was one of the first employees of the company, and he had loved working there since the beginning. However, since being promoted to deputy head of the creativity department, he felt trapped.

The position of deputy head of creativity had little to do with actual creativity. Rather, Steve spent his day selling pitches and schmoozing clients.

The beeping of the microwave pulled Steve out of his thoughts, he picked up the food and went back to the living room. He sat down with his feet in Bucky's lap.

The next morning Steve woke up already late for work.

As he showered and brushed his teeth, he catalogued his work for the day. His hard work had finally payed off and the famous record label Grey Eagle from New York had agreed to a meeting to discuss a contract for all their artists with Blue Jackets.

Steve, also had to oversee a meeting with an old client, Carter's Confectionary for the advertisement of their new line of products, and then a lunch meeting with some import businessmen. And finally, a monthly budget session with the head of the creativity department, Johann Schmidt.

Schmidt had been Steve's senior in art school and had joined the company along with him.

He had risen up the ranks because of his designing skills. Though he was extremely respected in the company, he didn't actually have many friends because he was reserved and introverted personality.

Steve's travel to his office was quite tedious, so much so that by the time he was in the elevator of his office building he was already tired. But he'd rented his apartment to be close to Bucky and his sisters, so in the end it was worth it.

When the elevator opened, Steve realized that his day wouldn't go according to plan. Fury's office door was open and all the creativity department interns were standing inside, scared as mice. Not a moment later, Fury's loud and angry voice could be heard all over the open floor office.

Steve passed Clint and Natasha's work stations as he made his way to Fury's office. The duo passed him a better you than me look and he smiled tightly.

When Fury noticed Steve enter, he signaled the interns to leave, who instantly looked relieved and nodded at Steve gratefully before leaving. Steve knew that he'd have to have a word with them.

Fury didn't look up from his laptop as he started talking, "Ms. Carter will be showing up the meeting today."

Steve startled, "Why's she coming? Wasn't it a regular meeting?"

Fury stared up at Steve, "It seems your interns picked up your laxity. The pitch wasn't finished and they weren't coherent at all."

Steve respected his boss a lot, but the man had a habit of putting others down and making them do his bidding, which Steve couldn't stand, "Respectfully, I don't think you can comment on my department when you aren't even present on make cohesive decisions. You can't sit here and question my work ethic. You've given me this position, let me use it. Also, sir, it would do you well to remember that Schmidt is the department head."

At this rant, Fury looked up at Steve, "Quit the drama. You aren't deputy head for fun and games. Make sure the pitch is clean or you aren't coming for the pitch to the music label."

Before Steve could express his indignation, Fury left his office to get his daily coffee order from the café downstairs. Steve's voice rang out in the office, "You got that offer because of me, I deserve to be there" but Fury walked into the elevator without looking back or acknowledging him.

Steve sighed and walked over to Sam and the other interns who were discussing something in hushed whispers. Steve rolled up his sleeves and crossed his arms before gaining their attention, "Will someone tell me what happened right now? I thought that you guys could be trusted with this pitch. If Ms. Carter wouldn't be showing up today, you guys would have bombed the pitch."

Sam intervened then, "Actually we have everything ready to go, Fury just caught us at the wrong moment. We'd only just walked into the office when heh called us in, without the presentation or cue cards or anything."

Steve nodded, Fury was known for hazing new recruits and interns like this, but Steve couldn't just point blank agree with the kids or they'd mistake it for a free reign. Instead of sending them on their way, Steve replied, "Okay, if you're so sure that you've got it pat down, give me the pitch right now."

As expected, the intern's presentation went smoothly, though a few corrections were required, which Steve made instantaneously. Another dry run later, Steve was satisfied with their work and sent them on their way.

Just then, Schmidt walked into the office and nodded at Steve. It seemed ,the department head hadn't expected Steve to enter his office because he snapped his laptop when Steve barged in.

Steve assumed it to be a certain kind of video, which he wasn't exactly supportive of watching in the office, but as long as the man was doing his work, it really didn't matter.

Steve set down the latest full-size prints of the new advertisements for a client on the table and sat in the chair opposite Schmidt.

The next few hours sucked all the energy out of Steve. His superior acted as though he had, on his own, devised the budget but Steve had to plan the intricacies of the plan.

Steve shrugged off this behavior and focused on getting his work done. He tried to broach the subject of contending for a pitch with a cola company. But Schmidt seemed in a hurry to get out of the office.

Instead of poking holes in Steve's proposal as he always did, the man only nodded jerkily, "Ah, yes, yes. It seems fine. If you know the finances then why waste my-" the senior corrects himself quickly, "our time right now?"

Steve was lost for words. Schmidt simply closed his files and walked out of his office, leaving Steve with the drafts for the projects lined-up for the next quarter.

Steve went about, trying to finish his daily work before initiating the quarterly projects.

He was already started completing multiple pending projects when Fury's assistant, Maria walked over to him. In a hushed whisper she said, "You should know, the label preponed their meeting to 11a.m."

Steve looked up from the drawing board which he was hunched over, and passed the pencil to Clint, before replying in an even quieter voice, "What do you mean 11? Like morning 11? That's way too early. That's like…" Steve checked his watch, "in an hour. What the hell, that's when we have Ms. Carter coming in. Why'd they do that?"

Maria sighed, looking around the office, already thinking about how to empty the extra conference room in the corner which had been turned into a storage unit of sorts, "Can't ask them to change the time, Steve. They might be coming to us for an agreement but they are still the higher party in this interaction, plus their CEO is showing up for this meeting. What I'm thinking is, though it seems unlikely, they're going to sign us up for more than just the single artist, otherwise these many people wouldn't have shown up for this meeting. They might want a new media company, but they still have some time before their agreement with the previous one gets terminated, so this desperation seems out of place."

Although Steve didn't understand the specifics of business networking, Maria's experience couldn't be doubted. Steve took her word for it and asked, "Okay, so what do you need me to do? Do you think I should sit in the Carter meeting or be there for the label thing?"

Maria picked at her lower lip as she mulled things over, "Carter is an old client, but we have competition trying to take that as well. So, I'd rather have to work with them than with the label."

Steve nodded, he'd seen the predatory and snappy way in which deals were made by business tycoons. He was happy to let Maria and Fury work out the details to the business aspect, he agreed with Maria, "A bird in the hand and all that… I get it. Just let me know if you need any help."

Maria nodded and excused herself, and Steve and Sam set up the first conference room for the meeting with Ms. Carter.

Steve had been hoping to interact with the label heads for a while before Ms. Carter showed up, to see his work to fruition, but the woman arrived before the label executives.

Steve interacted with Ms. "call me Peggy" Carter. She had been worried about whether the company would give all their products equal importance, and Steve tried to set her mind at ease. They used each other as sounding boards to decide the abstract theme of their advertisement plan.

Finally, after the new theme and ideas had been finalized for the new products, Peggy made her way out of the office. Steve led her out of the office and dropped her till her car. When the car sped off, Steve stood in the sun for a moment, before checking his watch. He sighed; he only had a 15-minute break before he had to skype the import businessmen.

Steve went back to Schmidt's office to take the skype call, from where he could see the door to the second conference hall. The meeting seemed to be in full swing, Steve sighed. He had put in the most effort to get this deal, and he couldn't even be involved in it.

Finally, the call popped up on Steve's screen and his focus returned to the meeting at hand. By the time the meeting was over, Steve was bone tired. He made his way out of Schmidt's office, only to see the elevator doors closing on Fury and who he assumed were the label-heads.

By the evening, Steve had barely had time to actually work on his personal projects which had been handed over to interns and other employees because of his increased workload. He finally closed his latest email to the accounts department when the entire office had cleared. Only Fury was sitting in his office, clearing his files and drawings away.

Steve got up, cracked his back and made his way over to Fury's office. The man's back was to Steve as he removed tack pins from a board on the wall, so Steve cleared his throat. Fury acknowledges him without turning around, "Steve."

Steve stands up straighter and replies, "Nick". Fury's back muscles visibly clench, but Steve continues, "We need to talk."

Fury turns around at that, one eyebrow, "You aren't getting any leave."

Steve sighs and rolls his eyes before continuing, "No, I'm not interested in that. I'm thankful for being promoted, but I don't want it. Didn't want it when you gave it to me, don't want it now. Can I go back to doing the actual work rather than trying to sell it to business snobs?"

Fury's eyes bore through Steve, he considers it for a moment. His question is short, "Why?"

Steve looks bewildered for a moment, he had expected a clear dismissal, "I haven't been assigned a single project since I got promoted, and my primary work is supposed to be art and design. Also, I don't actually have any business acumen? Natasha and Clint can handle pitching projects and networking much better than me."

Fury replies, "Don't tell me how to delegate work. Cut the bullshit, you just want to go back to your own project."

Steve shrugs, it isn't completely untrue. While he doesn't want their company to fail, but right now he has one track mind to get back to doinghis own projects.

Fury continues after a moment, "I do need you for an on-site project right now, so you can take a break from your other responsibilities."

Steve barely stops himself from rolling his eyes, trust Fury to twist every situation to make it seem like it's his own choice. But as long as Steve gets what he wants, it's fine.

Fury sits down on his chair without offering one to Steve and continues, "We weren't supposed to disclose this till tomorrow, but we got the label deal. They've signed us on to advertise all their artists tours. I'm going to send you and one intern for any on-site projects."

Steve looks at Fury, completely gob smacked. After the label meeting, Fury hadn't said anything so Steve had assumed the worst. But getting a contract for all their artists? Maria had been right.

The Grey Eagles, though an old label, were trying to rebuild their image. Though they had a handful of artists, their diversity was always visible and the artists were allowed to experiment a lot, from heavy rock band Like The Valkyrie to the EDM enigma Spidersounds. Designing advertisements for such a wide variety of artists was going to help Steve gain a lot of experience.

Steve didn't give let Fury explain the plan, he jumps in instantly, "Yup, I'll do it. I'm going to do it."

Fury smirks, and in the coming week Steve is going to look back and realise how easily he had been tricked into taking one of the worst projects ever.

But right now, the blonde is just excited. Fury asks, "You sure?"

Steve nods seriously. Fury nods and continues, "Alright, consider all your extra responsibilities removed from this moment onwards. Tomorrow you've got to go over to their offices and discuss the exact extent of your work."

Steve nodded as Fury dismissed him. He packed up his work in record time and was headed home before his mind could even process it.

As soon as he got out of the subway, he called Bucky while running towards his flat.

Bucky finally picked up just as Steve turned the corner, onto Bucky's block.

Bucky asked, "What's up?"

Steve panted, "I'm downstairs, open the door I've got great news."

Bucky sighed, "Right." and dropped the call.

Steve ran up the stairs and opened the door. As soon as he crossed the threshold, two bodies jumped onto him, making his fall down on his back. The girls giggled and burrowed into him and Steve tickled them.

Lexi pulled away first, elbowing Steve right in his solar plexus and tucking her hair behind her ears using her entire hand. She smiles widely, all milk tooth gaps visible, "Hi."

Steve ruffles her hair, "Hi princess, isn't it past your bed time?"

Bucky walks in, wearing a pair of old joggers and his college hoodie, "Sure it is, but they overheard your call and had to see you. If their sleep schedule messes up, I'm blaming you."

Olivia looks at Bucky while snuggling with Steve on the floor, "We're seven years old now, we don't need a sleep schedule." Her voice is muffled as half her mouth is pressed into Steve's shirt and her high and squeaky does nothing to back up her claim of being old enough.

Olivia reminds Steve of himself, from when he was a sickly child. Touchwood the girl isn't sick, but her stubborn streak rivals his own. And it seems from Bucky's snort that he's thinking the same thing.

After a moment, Steve leads the girls back to their bedroom and reads them a story before tucking them in.

When he walks out of their room, Bucky is sitting in the living room, watching stupid television on low volume. Steve walks over and puts his head in Bucky's lap and stares at the TV. The latter starts playing with his hair.

Bucky asks, "What's up?'

Steve replies, "Quit the new position."

Bucky's smile in response is so wide that Steve can see it out of the corner of his eye. He pinches Bucky's thigh in response, "Shut up."

Bucky smirks, "I didn't even say anything yet."

Steve stares at him out of the corner of his eye, "I can hear you think."

Bucky simply shrugs. Steve sits up and turns to look at is best friend, "Also we got the deal with the Grey Eagles."

Bucky's eyes bug out and for a moment he ooks at Steve speechlessly. Then he smacks Steve across the head, "You're supposed to lead with that, punk. WhaT THE HELL?" Bucky's voice slowly increases in volume till he's whisper-screaming (the girls are asleep).

Bucky looks ecstatic as he continues, "Jeez Stevie, all of that is your workman!! This is great! How'd it go? What'd they say? Did the label already know your work?"

"Buck, calm down. I didn't get to speak to the label people when they came in for the meeting but Fury gave me the project. I have to meet them tomorrow and look at the details of the agreement."

Bucky smiles, "That's great man."

Steve smiles in response and they watch stupid Tv for a while before Steve heads back home.


End file.
